August 12, 2016 AT 10:00 am

This project is part of Microsoft’s Hack the Home initiative, which provides makers with free, open-source components for effortless interfacing with devices and services that makers use most to hack their homes.

Home security systems are a growing field of projects for Makers. A self-built system is not only less expensive than a bulky professional installation, but it also allows for total control and customization to suit your needs.

With the introduction of Microsoft’s Project Oxford, facial recognition applications are now more accessible to makers than ever before. This project utilizes a Raspberry Pi, basic Webcam, and an internet connection to create a door that unlocks itself via facial recognition. If the visitor at the door is recognized, the door will unlock!

Featured Adafruit Products!

Female DC Power adapter – 2.1mm jack to screw terminal block: If you need to connect a DC power wall wart to a board that doesn’t have a DC jack – this adapter will come in very handy! There is a 2.1mm DC jack on one end, and a screw terminal block on the other. The terminals are labeled with positive/negative assuming a positive-tip configuration (which is the most common). Read more.

12V 5A switching power supply: This is a beefy switching supply, for when you need a lot of power! It can supply 12V DC up to 5 Amps, running from 110V or 220V power (the plug it comes with is for US/Canada/Japan but you can use any plug adapter for your country, or just replace the cable with a standard ‘figure-8’ cable). Read more.

Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!

Make a robot friend with Adafruit’s CRICKIT – A Creative Robotics & Interactive Construction Kit. It’s an add-on to our popular Circuit Playground Express, FEATHER and other platforms to make and program robots with CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. Start controlling motors, servos, solenoids. You also get signal pins, capacitive touch sensors, a NeoPixel driver and amplified speaker output. It complements & extends your boards so you can still use all the goodies on the microcontroller, now you have a robotics playground as well.